CN114651530A

CN114651530A - Event indication for hazardous environment luminaires using visual sequences

Info

Publication number: CN114651530A
Application number: CN202080075708.7A
Authority: CN
Inventors: R·V·古尔贾
Original assignee: Appleton Grp LLC
Current assignee: Appleton Grp LLC
Priority date: 2019-08-31
Filing date: 2020-08-17
Publication date: 2022-06-21
Also published as: MX2022002536A; US11769380B2; WO2021041066A1; US20210065522A1; CA3148363A1; US11328564B2; EP4005350A1; US20220254233A1

Abstract

The primary operation is to provide ambient or focused illumination in a hazardous environment, the luminaires additionally being configured to communicate alerts and/or detected events or conditions within the hazardous environment via visual sequences. The different visual sequences uniquely identify respective alarms and/or detected conditions, which may include conditions occurring at the luminaire and/or conditions occurring within the hazardous environment. The different visual sequences are defined by respective blink sequences in a library of blink sequences stored at the luminaire. The flashing sequence is configurable, distinguished by different amplitudes, frequencies, duty cycles, and other power on/off waveform characteristics, and applied to one or more illumination sources of the luminaire to generate a corresponding visual sequence in the hazardous environment. Even without the use of a portable computing device, the visual sequence generated by the hazardous environment luminaire allows personnel within the hazardous environment to be notified or alerted when a critical situation occurs.

Description

Event indication for hazardous environment luminaires using visual sequences

Cross Reference to Related Applications

The present application claims indian patent application No. 201921035199 entitled "indication of event using hazardous environmental illuminators using visual sequence" filed on 2019, 8/31, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to luminaires, lighting units and luminaires disposed in hazardous environments, such as intrinsically safe and/or explosion proof luminaires, lighting units and luminaires that provide ambient, task and/or focused light within a hazardous environment.

Background

The background description provided in this document is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.

Intrinsically safe and/or explosion-proof luminaires, lighting units and luminaires provide general, ambient and/or task or focused light within hazardous environments (e.g. industrial processing plants, manufacturing facilities, oil refineries, power generation systems, mines, etc.). Thus, intrinsically safe and/or explosion-proof luminaires, lighting units and luminaires must comply with all standards and/or regulatory rules applicable to the particular hazardous environment in which they are located, for example to prevent ignition and/or explosion of hazardous atmospheric mixtures (such as flammable gases and/or dust), to protect the electronics within the luminaire from damage or destruction, to contain any explosions that may occur, etc. Such luminaires may be rated by category, partition, and group. For example, for products located in hazardous environments within the petrochemical industry where flammable vapors may be present, category 1, division 1, group D, E, and F are generally required levels. In general, intrinsically safe and/or explosion-proof luminaires, lighting units and luminaires are designed to limit the adverse and/or dangerous effects of thermal and/or electrical energy generated during normal use and maintenance and under fault conditions. For ease of reading, intrinsically safe and/or explosion-proof luminaires, lighting units and/or luminaires located in hazardous environments are collectively referred to herein as "Hazardous Environment (HE) luminaires, lighting units and/or luminaires", and/or simply "luminaires, lighting units and/or luminaires".

However, known hazardous environment luminaires, lighting units, and light fixtures are typically unable to autonomously and independently communicate detected critical events or alerts to users located within a hazardous environment in real-time (or near real-time) without requiring and/or utilizing significant resources.

For example, some luminaires utilize a wireless communication interface to communicate detected events to a portable computing device operated by a user located near or within the luminaire environment. In some arrangements, the luminaire sends a wireless transmission including alarm and/or event information directly to the user's portable computing device via some wireless communication protocol, such as bluetooth or other short-range protocol, Wi-Fi, WirelessHART, or other wireless communication protocol. In other arrangements, the luminaire sends a wireless transmission including alert and/or event information to a host computer or backend system via a wireless communication network for processing and forwarding to the user's portable computing device via the wireless communication network. Known wired techniques for communicating alarm and/or event information from luminaires include requiring the user to physically connect a physical cable or wire between a port of the user's portable computing device and a port of the luminaire, thereby providing a channel for communicating alarm/event information, or requiring the luminaire to send alarm/event information to a host or backend system via wired transmission over a wired communication network (e.g., by using a wired communication protocol such as HART, ethernet, or other wired communication protocol), and then having the host/backend system forward or otherwise communicate the content of the received alarm/event to the user-operated portable computing device in a wireless manner (e.g., via Wi-Fi, WirelessHART, etc. over a wireless communication network).

However, some of these alert communication techniques, such as those that require the user's portable computing device to use bluetooth or Wi-Fi, do not comply with hazardous environment standards and regulations and thus may not be usable within hazardous environments. Other wireless alert communication techniques that rely on wireless communication networks are unable to communicate critical alerts and events to a user's portable computing device when the wireless network is inoperable or compromised (e.g., due to interference, malfunction, etc.), when the user's portable computing device is not within wireless range of a wireless access point, and/or when the user's portable computing device itself is compromised. Additionally, after installation of the luminaire at roof height or other substantial height, and/or when a process plant or other physical equipment blocks access to the installed luminaire, it may be very difficult or even impossible for a user to obtain a port to access the luminaire in order to be able to physically plug in a wired communication cable or line to receive an alarm, let alone do so in a timely manner after a malfunction or event occurs. Still further, the need to purchase, install, configure and maintain wired and/or wireless networks for users located within the hazardous environment of the luminaire to send and receive alarm signals not only incurs significant capital and man-hour expenses, but also utilizes the significant bandwidth, processor and other limited computing and/or communication resources of the installed communication system.

Another known technique for enabling user-operated portable computing devices located within hazardous environments to receive alarm and event information utilizes Visual Light Communication (VLC), a technique that modulates the visible spectrum to transmit data at high frequencies, such as 780-. VLC technology, however, requires the installation of a VLC capable transceiver at a user's portable computing device so that the user's device can decode VLC signals, adding additional weight, complexity, and cost to the user's device, and consuming a significant portion of the user's device's limited processing, memory, and power resources. Additionally, in arrangements where the luminaire transmits self-reporting alerts using VLC, such VLC capable transceivers must also be installed and maintained at the luminaire itself. Still further, VLC techniques are ineffective when the line of sight between the luminaire and the user's portable computing device is obstructed by, for example, plant equipment, environmental particles, and the like.

Disclosure of Invention

Systems, methods, and techniques disclosed herein relate to a Hazardous Environment (HE) luminaire, lighting unit, or luminaire disposed in a hazardous environment. During its normal run-time operation, embodiments of the disclosed HE luminaires, lighting units, or light fixtures radiate general or ambient light and/or task or focused light into a hazardous environment. Advantageously, the disclosed HE luminaires, lighting units, or light fixtures are further configured to autonomously and independently communicate various alert and/or event information to users (e.g., people) located within the hazardous environment. Indeed, the HE luminaire, lighting unit, or luminaire may communicate various alerts and/or event information to a user in a hazardous environment in real-time (e.g., upon detecting an event occurrence and/or upon detecting a condition corresponding to an alert), without requiring the HE luminaire, lighting unit, or luminaire to be connected to any communication network, without requiring the portable computing device operated by the user to be configured with a specialized transceiver, without requiring the user's portable computing device to be positioned within wireless range of the luminaire or wireless access point, and without requiring the user's portable computing device to be positioned within a line of sight of the disclosed luminaire, lighting unit, or luminaire. Indeed, a user located in a hazardous environment does not even need a portable computing device at all for the user to receive alert and/or event information from the disclosed HE luminaires, lighting units, or light fixtures.

In particular, embodiments of the disclosed Hazardous Environment (HE) luminaires, lighting units, or light fixtures may indicate the occurrence of each particular alarm or particular event or condition by generating a respective visual sequence that uniquely identifies the alarm or event/condition. As used herein, the term "visual sequence" generally refers to an ordered sequence of illumination that is visible or perceptible to the human eye and that may be generated by an HE luminaire by varying the energization and de-energization of its on-board illumination sources. Each visual sequence or ordered sequence of illumination uniquely identifies the occurrence of a corresponding event or condition or a corresponding alarm. The visual sequence may be repeated continuously over time in a pattern, if desired. The HE lighting unit may generate (e.g., radiate) different visual sequences by powering on and off (e.g., by powering on and off, by activating and deactivating) one or more onboard lighting sources according to different blinking sequences. Each sequence of flashes may define a respective combination of frequencies, amplitudes, duty cycles, intensities, and/or other characteristics of energization/de-energization of one or more illumination sources of the HE luminaire, and different sequences of flashes may be distinguished or distinguished based on their respective combinations of frequencies, amplitudes, duty cycles, intensities, and/or other characteristics of energization/de-energization.

In one embodiment, a luminaire disposed in a hazardous environment includes one or more drivers coupled to one or more illumination sources, one or more processors coupled to the one or more drivers, and one or more memories storing a set of computer-executable instructions. When executed by one or more processors, a set of computer-executable instructions cause a luminaire to detect an occurrence of a particular event included in a plurality of events within a hazardous environment; determining a particular blink sequence identifying an event, the particular blink sequence included in the plurality of blink sequences; and cause the one or more drivers to energize the one or more illumination sources according to a particular sequence of flashes, thereby causing the luminaires to generate a visual sequence indicative of the occurrence of a particular event. Additionally, the luminaire includes one or more hazardous location enclosures having disposed therein one or more illumination sources, one or more drivers, one or more processors, and one or more memories.

In one embodiment, a luminaire disposed in a hazardous environment includes a flash sequence library stored in one or more memories and defining a plurality of flash sequences, wherein each flash sequence identifies a respective event of a plurality of events. The luminaire additionally includes an alarm unit, wherein the alarm unit includes a set of computer-executable instructions stored on one or more memories. When the set of computer executable instructions of the alarm unit is executed by the one or more processors, the alarm unit causes the luminaire to: detecting an occurrence of a particular event included in a plurality of events within a hazardous environment; accessing a flash sequence library to determine a particular flash sequence that identifies a particular event; and instruct the one or more drivers to energize the one or more illumination sources included in the luminaire according to the particular flashing sequence, thereby causing the luminaire to generate a visual sequence indicative of the occurrence of the particular event. The luminaire additionally includes one or more hazardous location enclosures surrounding or enclosing the one or more memories, the one or more processors, the one or more drivers, and the one or more illumination sources.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an example hazardous environment lighting unit, luminaire, or luminaire that communicates alerts and/or event indications using visual sequences.

Fig. 2A illustrates an example flashing sequence that may be applied to a single illumination source of a hazardous environment luminaire, or it may be applied simultaneously to a group of illumination sources of a hazardous environment luminaire, which appear as a single overall illumination source to generate a corresponding visual sequence.

Fig. 2B illustrates an example coordinated blinking sequence of multiple illumination sources applicable to a hazardous environment luminaire that appear as distinct, different illumination sources to generate a corresponding visual sequence.

Fig. 3 depicts an example hazardous environment in which the hazardous environment lighting unit, fixture, or luminaire of fig. 1 may be located or disposed.

Detailed Description

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an example hazardous environment lighting unit, luminaire, or luminaire 100 that provides an alarm and/or event indication within a hazardous environment using visual sequences. The terms "lighting unit," "luminaire," and "illuminator" are used interchangeably herein to refer to a set of electrically powered components that operate to supply general or ambient light and/or task light or focused light in the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum of the human eye (e.g., about 380 to 740 nanometers). The luminaire 100 is disposed within a hazardous environment 100, such as an industrial plant, manufacturing facility, oil refinery, power generation system, mine, or the like. Thus, luminaire 100 is a Hazardous Environment (HE) luminaire, conforming to any (and in some cases all) standards and/or regulations regarding its configuration, installation, and use within a hazardous environment. That is, the luminaire 100 complies with standard and/or regulatory thermal and electrical limits in order to limit the energy generated by the luminaire 100 that may be used for potential ignition and/or explosion within a hazardous environment. Additionally, the HE luminaire 100 includes at least one hazardous location enclosure or housing 102, the components of which are typically disposed or enclosed therein. For example, the hazardous location enclosure or housing 102 may be explosion proof, fire proof, water proof, sealed, hermetically sealed, dust proof, ignition proof, and the like. In some embodiments of luminaire 100 (not shown in fig. 1), a single luminaire 100 may include multiple hazardous location enclosures or housings 102, each of which surrounds a different subset of the components of luminaire 100; however, for ease of reading (and not for purposes of limitation), the hazardous location housing or shell 102 is referred to using a singular tense. Further, at least a portion 105 of the hazardous location enclosure or housing 102 is at least partially transparent or transparent to visible light, such that illumination or light generated by one or more illumination sources IL-1 through IL-n (corresponding to references 108a-108n in FIG. 1) of the illuminator 100 can be radiated into the hazardous environment. The illumination sources 108a-108n may be any suitable type of illumination source that generates visible light, such as incandescent, halogen, fluorescent, metal halide, xenon, LED (light emitting diode), and the like.

In fig. 1, luminaire 100 includes one or more processors 110, one or more drivers 112 (e.g., a driver for an illumination source), and one or more illumination sources 108a-108n enclosed in, surrounded by, and/or otherwise protected by hazardous location enclosure 102. In general, the one or more processors 110 instruct the one or more drivers 112 to energize or activate the one or more illumination sources 108a-108n, for example, individually or independently and/or as a set or group in a coordinated manner. For example, the one or more processors 110 may instruct the one or more drivers 112 to power on or activate the one or more illumination sources 108a-108n based on or according to instructions and/or information provided by the alarm unit 115 of the luminaire 100. The alarm unit 115 may include a set of computer-executable instructions that are executable by the one or more processors 110 and stored on one or more memories 118 of the luminaire 100, where the one or more memories 118 are, for example, one or more tangible, non-transitory memories, components, or data storage devices. The one or more memories 118 may also store a flash sequence library 120 that defines a relationship between each event or condition of a plurality of events/conditions and a corresponding flash sequence that uniquely identifies each event or condition. In some arrangements, the one or more memories 118 may also store other data 122 accessible to the one or more processors 110 and/or other computer-executable instructions 125 executable by the one or more processors 110 to cause the luminaire 100 to perform other operations in addition to providing alerts and/or event indications using blinking or visual sequences. For example, the other computer-executable instructions 125 may be executed by the one or more processors 110 to cause the luminaire 100 to perform its runtime lighting operations, communicate (e.g., wirelessly) with other luminaires and/or with a backend server to coordinate lighting functions for an entire group of luminaires, perform diagnostic and/or maintenance operations, and so forth.

In general, alarm unit 115 may cause luminaire 100 to detect the occurrence of a particular event included in a plurality of events within a hazardous environment. The alert unit 115 may access the flash sequence library 120 to determine a particular flash sequence defined to identify a particular event, and may instruct the one or more drivers 112 to power on/off one or more of the illumination sources 118a-118n according to the particular flash sequence to cause the luminaire 100 to generate or radiate a corresponding visual illumination sequence. The visual sequence of illumination generated by the luminaire 100 thus alerts a user or person located within the hazardous environment and able to perceive the visual sequence to the occurrence of the detected event or condition.

In some embodiments, the plurality of events whose occurrence can be detected by luminaire 100 include diagnostic and/or maintenance operating states and/or results. For example, when luminaire 100 is performing a particular diagnostic operation or a particular maintenance operation (e.g., autonomously performing the particular diagnostic or maintenance operation on its own), various flashing sequences may identify different stages of diagnostic and/or maintenance operation performance. Other flashing sequences may identify different results of a completed diagnostic and/or maintenance operation.

In some embodiments, the plurality of events whose occurrence can be detected by luminaire 100 include faults, errors, and/or alarm conditions related to luminaire 100, its components, and/or its runtime operation. For example, the alarm unit 115 may receive a signal from another component of the luminaire 100 indicating the occurrence of a fault, error, or other alarm condition, and the alarm unit 115 may determine a corresponding flashing sequence from the flashing sequence library 120 for generating a particular visual sequence indicating the occurrence of the fault, error, or other alarm condition. Examples of possible faults, errors, or other alarm conditions that may be indicated by a visual sequence that correspond to components and/or runtime operation of luminaire 100 include low battery backup, software failures, hardware or electronic failures, an expected life of a particular lighting source below a predetermined level, some components overheating and/or failing, an unexpected message received via a communication port of luminaire 100, and/or other fault, error, and/or alarm conditions.

In some embodiments, luminaire 100 is communicatively connected to one or more networks via one or more communication interfaces 128a-128 m. For example, luminaire 100 may be communicatively connected to a wireless network via a first communication interface (COM1)128a and/or may be communicatively connected to a wired network via a second communication interface (COMm)128 m. Thus, luminaires 100 may be nodes of a wireless network and/or may be nodes of a wired network. Each of the wireless and/or wired networks may include one or more other nodes, such as back-end computers, controllers, or servers that are disposed in a non-hazardous environment or otherwise shielded from the harsh conditions of a hazardous environment. Other examples of nodes that may be included in wireless and/or wired networks may include one or more other luminaires, sensors, and other devices disposed within hazardous environments in some configurations. Regardless, in embodiments in which luminaire 100 is a node of a wireless network and/or a wired network, different flashing sequences may be defined to indicate different detection conditions affecting the connectivity of luminaire 100 in communication with other nodes via one or more networks. For example, different sequences of flashes may correspond to a failure of luminaire 100 to detect the presence of an expected wireless network at COM1 interface 128a, and/or the presence of interference within the wireless network above a predetermined level. A different sequence of blinks may correspond to a luminaire 100 failing to communicate with a controller, a backend server, a wireless gateway, another luminaire, or some other node, even if the luminaire 100 has an active and operational network connection via a wireless COM1 interface 128a and/or via a wired COM2 interface 128 m. The different blinking sequences may correspond to luminaires 100 detecting that they have dropped from a wireless network or from a wired network. Of course, other blink sequences corresponding to other connection conditions may additionally or alternatively be defined in the blink sequence library 120.

In some embodiments, the plurality of events whose occurrence can be detected by luminaire 100 includes a sensed event or a detected condition. For example, luminaire 100 may include one or more on-board sensors 130 and/or sensors communicatively connected to one or more off-board sensors (e.g., sensors not enclosed within hazardous location enclosure 102 but still communicatively connected to luminaire 100 via one or more of communication interfaces 128a-128m, not shown in fig. 1), such as motion sensors, light sensors, cameras, vibration sensors, temperature sensors, particulate matter sensors, pressure sensors, heat sensors, and the like. Each sensor may detect the occurrence of a particular type of event or condition, respectively, and may transmit a signal indicating the occurrence of the particular type of event or condition to the alarm unit 115.

For some sensed events, the alarm unit 115 may automatically indicate an occurrence each time the sensor notifies the alarm unit 115. For other sensed events, the alarm unit 115 may determine whether the occurrence of the sensed event is an expected event or an unexpected event. For example, when the motion sensor 128 of the luminaire 100 detects motion in a certain area of the hazardous environment, the motion sensor 128 may transmit an electronic signal indicative of the detected motion to the alarm unit 115, and the alarm unit 115 may determine whether the motion is expected motion. For example, if plant personnel are not expected to be located within a certain area of the hazardous environment when the sensor 128 detects movement, the alarm unit 115 may determine that the movement is an unexpected movement, thus the occurrence of a particular event to be indicated by the luminaire 100.

In any event, upon detecting the occurrence of an event or condition within the hazardous environment, the alarm unit 115 accesses the flash sequence library 120 to determine a particular flash sequence indicative of the occurrence of the detected event/condition. Subsequently, the alarm unit 115, via the one or more processors 110, instructs the one or more drivers 112 to power on/off (e.g., activate/deactivate) one or more of the illumination sources 108a-108n according to a particular flashing sequence, thereby causing the luminaire 100 to generate a particular visual sequence indicative of the occurrence of the detected event/condition. Since the illumination sources 108a-108n of the luminaire 100 radiate visible light through the at least partially transparent portion 105 of the hazardous location enclosure 102, any user, person or person that is in a location within the hazardous environment where the visual sequence generated by the illumination sources 108a-108n can be seen or perceived is thereby informed by the luminaire 100 of the occurrence of the detected event/condition.

Turning specifically to the blink sequence library 120, as previously described, the blink sequence library 120 stores definitions or indications of a plurality of blink sequences, each of which uniquely identifies a respective alarm or occurrence of a respective one of a plurality of events or conditions, at least some of which are directly detectable by the luminaire 100. Different flicker sequences may be distinguished from other flicker sequences by different combinations of cycle frequency, duty cycle, amplitude, and/or intensity (e.g., different levels of High (HI)/Low (LO) and/or other characteristics).

FIG. 2A illustrates an example flicker sequence 202-210 that may be stored in the flicker sequence library 120 and applied to a single illumination source, such as one of the illumination sources 108a-108n of FIG. 1. For example, the alarm unit 115 may instruct one of the drivers 112 to power on and off one of the illumination sources 118a according to one of the

example blinking sequences

202 and 210, causing the luminaire 100 to generate a corresponding visual sequence.

In the flashing sequence 202, the power-on amplitude per cycle varies over time between 0% (LO) and 100% (HI), and the duty cycle of the flashing sequence 202 is 50%. In the flicker sequence 205, although the amplitude of energization varies between 0% (L0) and 100% (HI) and the duty cycle is 50%, the frequency of the flicker sequence 205 is half of the frequency of the flicker sequence 202.

In the blinking sequence 208, the duty cycle is maintained at 50% and the frequency is the same as the frequency of the blinking sequence 202. However, in the blinking sequence 208, the amplitude of the energization varies between 50% (LO) and 100% (HI). That is, the intensity range of the blinking sequence 208 (e.g., from 50% to 100%) is less than the maximum intensity range of the illumination source (e.g., from 0% to 100%). Thus, the visual sequence corresponding to the blinking sequence 208 results in a blinking dimming of the illumination source rather than a blinking on/off of the illumination source. Thus, the visual sequence corresponding to the blinking sequence 208 may have a smoother or more damped visual effect than the visual sequence corresponding to the blinking sequence 202, and thus may cause less visual discomfort and/or irritation 300 to persons located within the hazardous environment.

In the blinking sequence 210, the amplitude of the energization varies between 0% (LO) and 100% (HI) (e.g., an on/off blinking sequence), however, the duty cycle of the blinking sequence 210 is 80%.

Of course, other scintillation sequences suitable for a single illumination source may be stored in the scintillation sequence library 120. In some configurations, a sequence of flashes applied to a single illumination source may be applied to a group of illumination sources simultaneously, thereby rendering the group of illumination sources as a single unitary illumination source.

In some embodiments, the flash sequence library 120 can store flash sequences that are coordinated flash sequences. The coordinated flash sequence may include a plurality of individual flash sequences performed in coordination over time, where each of the individual flash sequences is applied to a different illumination source 118a-118 n. For example, a first individual blink sequence of the coordinated blink sequence may be applied to the first illumination source 118a and a second individual blink sequence of the coordinated blink sequence may be applied to the second illumination source 118m, where the first and second blink sequences are different blink sequences, the execution of which is coordinated over time. For a coordinated flashing sequence, the alarm unit 115 may instruct one or more of the drivers 112 to power up and power down two or more of the illumination sources 118a-118n in a coordinated manner. Fig. 2B shows two example coordinated blinking

sequences

212, 218 that can be applied to two illumination sources of luminaire 100.

In the coordinated blinking sequence 212, a first individual blinking sequence 215a corresponds to a first illumination source of the luminaire 100 that is powered on/off (e.g., by the first driver 112) over time between 0% (LO) and 100% (HI) at a particular frequency (e.g., at a frequency perceptible to the human eye). Meanwhile, the second individual blink sequence 215b corresponds to a second illumination source of the luminaire 100 that is powered on/off (e.g., by the first driver or the second driver 112) over time at the same frequency as the first individual blink sequence 215 a. The first individual blink sequence 215a and the second individual blink sequence 215b are coordinated over time such that peak amplitudes at the second illumination source occur at valley amplitudes of the first illumination source and vice versa.

In coordinated blink sequence 218, a first individual blink sequence 220a corresponds to a first illumination source of luminaire 100 that is powered on/off (e.g., by first driver 112) over time between 0% (LO) and 100% (HI) at a particular frequency. Meanwhile, the second individual blink sequence 220b corresponds to a second illumination source of the luminaire 100 that is powered on/off (e.g., by the first driver or the second driver 112) over time at a frequency that is half the frequency of the first individual blink sequence 220 a.

Of course, other coordinated flash sequences that may be applicable to two or more illumination sources in a coordinated manner over time may be stored in the flash sequence library 120 and applied to multiple illumination sources, thereby indicating respective alarms and/or detected events/conditions.

One or more of the individual and/or coordinated scintillation sequences stored in the library 120 may be defined to be performed continuously and periodically over time, e.g., in a manner such as that shown in fig. 2A and 2B. For some blinking sequences defined to be performed continuously, the range of radiation intensities may be reduced to less than the maximum intensity range of the illumination source, for example, to reduce visual discomfort to personnel in a hazardous environment. However, some continuously performed flashing sequences may be defined to be performed within a maximum intensity range of the illumination source, e.g., to identify particularly critical events and/or conditions.

In some embodiments, one or more of the individual and/or coordinated scintillation sequences stored in the library 120 may be defined to be performed periodically, rather than continuously over time. That is, the blinking sequence may be performed for a first portion of the periodic time interval and may not be performed for a remaining portion of the periodic time interval. For example, luminaire 100 may perform a blinking sequence during the first minute of a periodically repeating ten minute interval, and during the remaining nine minutes of the ten minute interval, luminaire 100 may not perform the blinking sequence, but may perform its runtime lighting operations, such as operations to provide ambient or focused light to a hazardous environment, diagnostic operations, maintenance operations, and/or other runtime operations.

Fig. 3 depicts an example hazardous environment 300 in which a Hazardous Environment (HE) lighting unit, fixture, or luminaire 301 may be located. For example, the HE luminaire 301 of fig. 3 may be an embodiment of the HE luminaire 100. For ease of discussion (and not for purposes of limitation), FIG. 3 is discussed below in conjunction with the reference numerals included in FIG. 1.

As shown in fig. 3, luminaire 301 is a node of a wireless network 302 of hazardous environment 300, where wireless network 302 includes other nodes, such as

other luminaires

305, 308, and a wireless gateway 310 that communicatively interconnects wireless network 302 and a wired network 312 associated with hazardous environment 300. The wired network 312 includes a wired backbone 315 (which can be, for example, an ethernet, broadband, fiber optic, or any suitable type of wired backbone) to which backend servers, hosts, controllers, computing devices, and/or groups of computing devices appearing as a single logical server or host 318 are communicatively connected. Host 318 may be implemented by a single computing device, by one or more controllers and/or systems associated with a hazardous environment (e.g., a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), a Distributed Control System (DCS), or other type of industrial process control system), by a group of servers, by a computing cloud, or by any suitable arrangement of one or more computing devices. The host 318 may serve nodes of the wired network 312 and/or nodes of the wireless network 302. For example, host 318 may provide (e.g., via download or other mechanism) configuration and/or operational instructions 125 and/or data 122 (e.g., corresponding to managing or controlling runtime lighting, diagnostics, maintenance, and/or other operations) to one or more nodes of

networks

302, 312, such as one or more of

luminaires

301, 305, 308 and/or other nodes. Additionally, host 318 may provide instructions and/or data related to generating an alert visual sequence to one or

more luminaires

301, 305, 308, e.g., via download or other suitable mechanism. For example, the host 318 may provide at least a portion of the flash sequence library 120 and/or the alarm unit 115 to the HE luminaire 301.

The wired network 312 also includes a user computing device 320 communicatively connected via a backbone network 315. The server 318 and the user computing device 320 may be located or located at one or more remote or closed locations 322 to protect the server 318 and the user computing device 320 from the harsh conditions of the hazardous environment 300. In some arrangements (not shown in fig. 3), the protected user computing device 320 may be communicatively connected to the wired backbone 315 via a wireless link and an access point, wherein the access point is communicatively connected to the backbone 315 in a wired manner. User 325 may utilize computing device 320 to configure, modify, and/or otherwise provide instructions and/or data for use by host 318 and/or for storage at host 318, and/or view data and information provided by other devices and/or nodes via wired network 312 and/or wireless network 302 corresponding to hazardous environment 300. For example, via the user computing device 320, the user 325 may add, delete, and/or modify various blink sequences of the blink sequence library 120, and/or may indicate which particular blink sequences correspond to which

particular HE luminaires

301, 305, 308 within the hazardous environment 300.

Wired network 312 and wireless network 302 may comply with applicable hazardous environmental standards and regulations. For example, the wireless network 302 may utilize Wi-Fi, WirelessHART, and/or one or more other communication protocols suitable for (e.g., compliant with) the regulations and standards applicable to the hazardous environment 300, and the devices of the networks 302, 312 (e.g.,

luminaires

301, 305, 308, wireless gateway 310, and backbone network 315) located at least partially within the hazardous environment 300 may similarly comply with all applicable hazardous environment standards and regulations related to the hazardous environment 300.

The example hazardous environment 300 depicted in fig. 3 includes a sensor 328 that is communicatively connected to the luminaire 301 via a wireless link 330. The wireless link 330 may be included in the wireless network 302, or the wireless link 330 may be a short range or other type of wireless link 330 that is excluded from the wireless network 302 and directly connects the sensor 328 with the luminaire 301. In some embodiments (not shown in fig. 3), the sensors 328 may be communicatively connected to the luminaires 301 in a wired manner that complies with applicable hazardous environmental standards and regulations. In some embodiments (not shown in fig. 3), the sensor 328 may be included in the luminaire 301 and/or integrated into the luminaire 301, such as the sensor 130 of fig. 1. The sensor 328 may be any type of sensor such as a motion sensor, a camera or other type of light sensor, a vibration sensor, a temperature sensor, a particulate matter sensor, a pressure sensor, a thermal sensor, etc.

As additionally depicted in fig. 3, the example hazardous environment 300 includes a portable computing device 332 operated by a user 335 within the hazardous environment 300. The portable computing device 332 complies with hazardous environment standards and regulations applicable to the hazardous environment 300. For example, the portable computing device 332 may be configured to communicate with the luminaire 301 and/or with other nodes of the wireless network 302 using the WirelessHART protocol or some other protocol suitable ((e.g., conforming to all regulations and standards applicable to) the hazardous environment 300. the portable computing device 332 may be any type of wireless or mobile computing device, such as a laptop, a tablet, a smartphone, a smart device, a wearable computing device (e.g., a virtual reality device, a headset, or other on-board device), etc. the portable computing device 332 may or may not be a node of the wireless network 302.

In some embodiments, the portable computing device 332 is a server, a host, a controller, a computing device, and/or a group of computing devices that appears as a single logical server or host that serves the nodes of the wireless network 302. For example, host 332 may provide (e.g., via download or other mechanism) configuration and/or operational instructions 125 and/or data 122 (e.g., corresponding to managing or controlling runtime lighting, diagnostics, maintenance, and/or other operations) to one or more nodes of wireless network 302, such as to one or more of

luminaires

301, 305, 308. Additionally, the host 332 may provide instructions and/or data related to generating the visual sequence to one or

more HE luminaires

301, 305, 308, e.g., via download or other suitable mechanism. For example, the host 332 may provide at least a portion of the flash sequence library 120 and/or the alarm unit 115 to the HE luminaire 301. User 335 may utilize a user interface of host 332 to configure, modify, and/or otherwise provide instructions and/or data stored at host 332 and/or view data and information provided by other devices and/or nodes via wireless network 302 corresponding to hazardous environment 300. For example, the user 335 may add, delete, and/or modify various flash sequences of the flash sequence library 120, and/or may indicate, via a user interface of the host 332, which particular flash sequences correspond to which

particular HE luminaires

301, 305, 308.

In general, a

user

325, 335 may utilize one or more of the user

interface computing devices

320, 332 to manage a master or system version of the flash sequence library 120 stored at the

host

318, 332 and its use within the hazardous environment 300. For example, as described above, the

user

325, 335 can add, delete, and/or modify various flash sequences stored in the flash sequence library 120. In some implementations, the

user

325, 335 can define which particular library blinking sequences will (and/or will not) be delivered to which

particular luminaire

301, 305, 308. Additionally or alternatively, the

user

325, 335 may indicate which sequences of flashes that have been delivered to the luminaire 301 and reside at the luminaire 301 are to be activated and/or suppressed, e.g., so that the

user

325, 335 is only informed of the occurrence of events of interest to the

user

325, 335.

Several example scenarios that may occur in hazardous environment 300 illustrate the advantages and benefits of embodiments of hazardous environment luminaires 301 that are configured to communicate or indicate alarms and other detected events or conditions through the use of visual sequences. In a first example scenario, the luminaire 301 is performing a diagnostic operation or a maintenance operation, and as the luminaire 301 progresses through various stages, a corresponding visual sequence is generated in accordance with the various stages of the diagnostic or maintenance operation, thereby informing a user 335 located within the hazardous environment 300 of the progress of performing the diagnostic/maintenance operation. Upon completion or suspension of the diagnostic or maintenance operation, the illuminator 301 generates a visual sequence indicating the results of the completed or suspended diagnostic or maintenance operation. This first example scenario is particularly useful when the luminaire 301 is in standalone mode and is not connected to the wireless network 302 or wired network 312. In these cases, the user 335 simply visually perceives the visual sequence and can be easily and timely informed of the diagnostic/maintenance operating status and results even without the portable computing device 332.

In a second example scenario, the luminaire 301 detects a failure, error, and/or suboptimal performance of one of its components or runtime lighting operations. Thus, the luminaire 301 generates an identification visual sequence to indicate a detected failure, error or suboptimal performance of the components/runtime operations of the luminaire 301. This second example scenario is also particularly useful when the luminaire 301 is in standalone mode and is not connected to the wireless network 302 or wired network 312. In these cases, the user 335 simply visually perceives the visual sequence, and may even be informed of the detected failure, error, and such or suboptimal performance of the component/runtime operation at the luminaire 301 without the portable computing device 332.

In a third example scenario, as shown in fig. 3, the luminaire 301 is connected to the sensor 328 via a wired or wireless connection, or the luminaire 301 may comprise an onboard sensor, such as the sensor 130 of fig. 1 (not shown in fig. 3). When a

sensor

130, 328 detects or senses a condition occurring within hazardous environment 300, sensor 328 sends a corresponding signal to luminaire 301, and luminaire 301 energizes its illumination sources 108a-108n in a visual sequence that identifies the sensed condition. In some embodiments of this third example scenario, luminaire 301 generates a visual sequence each

time sensor

130, 328 notifies luminaire 301. In some embodiments of this third example scenario, the luminaire 301 generates a visual sequence only if the sensed condition is unexpected. For example, when the

sensors

130, 328 are motion sensors, detection of motion by the sensor 328 that sends a signal to the luminaire 301 during working hours may merely cause the luminaire 301 to normally emit light to provide ambient lighting (e.g., perform its typical run-time operations), while motion detected by the sensor 328 during non-working hours may cause the luminaire 301 to generate a visual sequence indicating that the sensed motion is unexpected.

In some scenarios, the luminaire 301 not only provides an alert and/or indication of a detected condition and/or event via a visual sequence, but the luminaire 301 also provides additional information related to the alert or detected condition/event via one or more other communication channels, such as via one or more of the communication interfaces 128a-128 m. For example, luminaire 301 may generate a visual sequence via one or more of its illumination sources 108a-108n indicating that unexpected motion has been detected, and may also send relevant information, such as the identity of the

sensor

130, 328 that detected the condition/event, the time of detection, etc., via one or more communication interfaces 128a-128m, to host 318 or 332 via wireless network 302 and/or wired network 312, or directly to the user's portable device computing device 332 via direct wireless link 338. Other types of useful information corresponding to the generated visual alert may be sent by the luminaire 301 to one or more of the

hosts

318, 332 via one or more communication interfaces 128a-128 m. For example, continuing the motion sensor example, luminaire 301 may also send image information captured by the camera sensor and thermal information detected by the thermal sensor, along with respective identifications of the camera and thermal sensor, to host 318 and/or 332 to identify or help identify the source of motion (e.g., a person, an animal, a disengaged piece of equipment, a leaf of a tree, or other environmental object, etc.) detected by sensor 328. In the event that the detected conditions/events are not related to sensors but are related to other devices or onboard components and/or operations, the luminaire 301 may send other types of related information to the

host

318, 332 via one or more of the communication interfaces 128a-128 m. For example, for certain detected fault and/or error conditions detected at the luminaire 301, the luminaire 301 may send an identification of the relevant on-board components, routines, and/or modules, as well as other information such as the time of occurrence, relevant settings, and the like.

The luminaire 301 may provide a particularly useful alert indication when the luminaire 301 is a node of the wireless network 302. For example, the luminaire 301 may be one of

several luminaires

301, 305, 308 connected via a wireless network 302.

Connected luminaires

301, 305, 308 may be at least partially supported and/or controlled by host device 318 (e.g., via wireless gateway 310 and wired backbone 315), or

connected luminaires

301, 305, 308 may be at least partially supported and/or controlled by host device 332, which is a node of wireless network 302. In some cases, the

host device

318, 332 may issue instructions to communicate and/or coordinate runtime operations among a set of

luminaires

301, 305, 308, e.g., by transmitting commands directly to each

luminaire

301, 305, 308, or by relaying commands to the luminaire 308 via a luminaire chain, e.g., by the host device 318, the luminaire 308 relays commands to the luminaire 305, which in turn relays commands to the luminaire 301. In some connected lighting cases, the luminaire may autonomously generate and communicate commands or messages to other nodes via the wireless network 302, e.g., via the wireless gateway 310, via one or more other intermediate nodes of the wireless network 302, and/or directly (e.g., point-to-point). For example, the luminaire 301 may be connected to the motion sensor 328 via a wired or wireless connection, or the sensor 130 may be included in the luminaire 301. When the

sensors

130, 328 detect motion within the hazardous environment 300, the sensors 328 communicate corresponding signals to the processor 110 of the luminaire 301, and the luminaire 301 energizes its illumination source in response to receiving an indication of the motion detected by the

sensors

130, 328. Further, luminaire 301 may instruct (e.g., via wireless network 302, wireless gateway 310, one or more other intermediate nodes of wireless network 302, and/or directly) one or more

other luminaires

305, 308 to energize the respective lighting sources, e.g., in response to motion detected by

sensors

130, 328.

Regardless, in these and other configurations in which luminaire 301 is a node of wireless network 302, luminaire 301 may inform a person (e.g., user 335) located within hazardous environment 300 of various detected states, conditions, and events related to wireless network 302 by generating respective identified visual sequences-for example, luminaire 301 may indicate via respective visual sequences that luminaire 301 cannot detect the presence of wireless network 302; luminaire 301 is able to detect the presence of wireless network 302, but is unable to communicate with

host

318 or 332, with another wireless network node (such as another luminaire 305, 308), and/or with wireless gateway 310; the luminaire 301 is detecting wireless interference above a predefined threshold; the luminaire 301 has been deleted or excluded from the wireless network 302; and so on.

Accordingly, embodiments of the novel and inventive hazardous environment lighting unit, light fixture, or luminaire disclosed herein provide significant advantages over known techniques for communicating detected events and/or alarms to persons, and users located in a hazardous environment (in which HE lighting unit, light fixture, or luminaire is provided). For example, a person located in a hazardous environment need not carry the portable computing device in order to be notified of various alarms and/or detected events and/or conditions, let alone need to position the portable computing device in line of sight of the luminaire or physically connect the portable computing device to the luminaire, as the person may only be notified by perceiving visual sequences generated by the luminaire. Advantageously, the need to forgo carrying the portable computing device in a hazardous environment reduces the overall risk of ignition, explosion, and/or other undesirable events occurring within the hazardous environment.

Additionally, personnel located within the hazardous environment may be notified of the alarm and/or detected event/condition in real-time as the event/condition occurs individually, without waiting for a message to be sent first to the back-end server and then notified by the back-end server and/or back-end personnel. This advantage is particularly advantageous when a severe alarm or event occurs — anyone in the vicinity of the HE lighting unit, luminaire or luminaire (e.g., personnel from other areas of the plant, a guard, security guard, etc.) can easily notify a critical alarm or event and take mitigating action via a visual sequence generated by the luminaire. Still further, alerts and indications of critical alerts/events can be communicated to personnel within the hazardous environment via visual sequences simultaneously and/or timely as they occur, as well as to personnel located within the protected area via the

communication networks

302, 312.

Furthermore, when one or more of the

networks

312, 302 goes down, degraded, or sub-optimally operating, personnel located within the hazardous environment 300 may still be informed of any failures, errors, and/or sub-optimal performance of the network detected by the luminaires 301. Furthermore, even if the

networks

302, 312 are not operating or are in a sub-optimal operating state, personnel located within the hazardous environment 300 may be informed of any other type of alarm and/or condition or event related to malfunction, error and other conditions of the components/operation of the luminaire 301 itself. This benefit is particularly advantageous during commissioning of equipment within hazardous environment 300 because luminaires 301 are able to communicate on-board and/or network problems detected by luminaires 301 to personnel located within hazardous environment 300 even when portions of

networks

302, 312 and/or other equipment of the hazardous environment have not completed commissioning.

The following additional considerations apply to the above discussion.

A portable computing device, such as device 332, operable in conjunction with embodiments of the hazardous environment lighting units, luminaires, or luminaires disclosed herein may be any suitable device capable of wireless communication, such as a smartphone, tablet, laptop, wearable or body-mounted device, drone, camera, streaming media dongle or other personal media device, wireless hotspot, femtocell base station, or broadband router. Additionally, the disclosed portable computing devices and/or embodiments of hazardous environment lighting units, luminaires, or luminaires may operate as internet of things (IoT) devices or industrial internet of things (IIoT) devices.

Certain embodiments are described in this disclosure as comprising logic or multiple components or modules. The modules may be software modules (e.g., code stored on a non-transitory machine-readable medium) or hardware modules. A hardware module is a tangible, non-transitory unit capable of performing certain operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. A hardware module may comprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured (e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC)) to perform certain operations, and may also comprise programmable logic or circuitry (e.g., embodied within a general-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that is temporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. The decision to implement a hardware module in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software) may be due to cost and time considerations.

When implemented in software, these techniques may be provided as part of an operating system, a library used by a number of applications, a specific software application, or the like. The software may be executed by one or more general-purpose processors or one or more special-purpose processors.

Upon reading this disclosure, those skilled in the art will appreciate still additional alternative structural and functional designs for hazardous environment lighting units, luminaires or luminaires that communicate alerts and/or detected conditions and/or events via visual sequences through the principles disclosed by this disclosure. Thus, while particular embodiments and applications have been illustrated and described herein, the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the precise construction and components disclosed. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications, changes, and variations may be made in the arrangement, operation, and details of the disclosed method and apparatus without departing from the spirit and scope as defined in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A luminaire disposed in a hazardous environment, said luminaire comprising:

one or more drivers coupled to one or more illumination sources;

one or more processors coupled to the one or more drivers; and

one or more memories storing a set of computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the luminaire to:

detecting an occurrence of a particular event included in a plurality of events within the hazardous environment;

determining a particular blinking sequence that identifies the event, the particular blinking sequence included in a plurality of blinking sequences; and

cause the one or more drivers to energize the one or more illumination sources according to the particular sequence of flashes, thereby causing the luminaire to generate a visual sequence indicative of the occurrence of the particular event; and

a hazardous location enclosure in which the one or more illumination sources, the one or more drivers, the one or more processors, and the one or more memories are disposed.

2. The luminaire of claim 1, wherein:

the luminaire and computing device are coupled via a communication link; and is

The set of computer-executable instructions is additionally executable to cause the luminaire to transmit an electronic signal indicative of the occurrence of the particular event to the computing device via the communication link.

3. The luminaire of claim 2, wherein the communication link is a wireless communication link.

4. The luminaire of claim 2, wherein the electronic signal additionally comprises an identification of a device or component within the hazardous environment that is associated with the particular event.

5. The luminaire of any preceding claim, wherein the luminaire is communicatively coupled to a sensor, and the particular event is detection of motion within the hazardous environment by the sensor.

6. The luminaire of claim 5, wherein detected motion is an unexpected detected motion, and the set of computer-executable instructions are further executable to determine that the detected motion is unexpected based on at least one of a source of the detected motion or a time of the occurrence of the detected motion.

7. The luminaire of any of claims 1-4, wherein the particular event is a failure, malfunction, error, or sub-optimal performance of one or more components or runtime operations of the luminaire.

8. The luminaire of any of claims 1-4, wherein the particular event corresponds to a diagnostic or maintenance operation of the luminaire.

9. The luminaire of any of claims 1-4, wherein the luminaire is a node of a wireless network, and the particular event is a loss of communication of the luminaire via the wireless network.

10. The luminaire of claim 9, wherein the loss of the communication of the luminaire via the wireless network comprises at least one of: a loss of detection of the wireless network by the luminaire, or the luminaire is excluded from the wireless network.

11. The luminaire of claim 9, wherein:

the luminaire is a first node of the wireless network;

the wireless network additionally comprises a second node that transmits signals via the wireless network to control the behavior of the luminaire;

the one or more drivers additionally energize the one or more lighting sources according to signals received at the luminaire from the second node via a wireless network; and is

The loss of the communication of the luminaire via the wireless network comprises a loss of the signal received at the luminaire from the second node via the wireless network while maintaining a communication connection between the luminaire and the wireless network.

12. The luminaire of claim 11, wherein the second node of the wireless network is another luminaire.

13. The luminaire of any preceding claim, wherein the particular sequence of flashes is distinguished from other sequences of flashes in the plurality of sequences of flashes based on at least one of a frequency, duty cycle, or amplitude at which the one or more drivers energize the one or more illumination sources.

14. The luminaire of any preceding claim, wherein the luminaire comprises a plurality of illumination sources, and wherein the particular sequence of flashes is a coordinated sequence of flashes including a first sequence of flashes applied to a first illumination source, and (ii) a second sequence of flashes applied to a second illumination source, the first and second sequences of flashes being different sequences of flashes performed in coordination over time.

15. The luminaire of any preceding claim, wherein the luminaire repeats the particular blinking sequence continuously.

16. The luminaire of claim 15, wherein during the successive repetitions of the particular flickering sequence, the luminaire varies an intensity of the one or more illumination sources within an intensity range that is less than a maximum intensity range of the one or more illumination sources.

17. The luminaire of any preceding claim, wherein the luminaire generates the particular sequence of flashes during a first portion of a periodic time interval, and the luminaire does not generate the particular sequence of flashes during a remaining portion of the periodic time interval.

18. The luminaire of any preceding claim, wherein the one or more drivers energize the one or more illumination sources according to the particular sequence of flashes during commissioning of the luminaire and before the commissioning of the luminaire is complete.

19. A luminaire disposed in a hazardous environment, said luminaire comprising:

a flash sequence library stored in the one or more memories and defining a plurality of flash sequences, each flash sequence identifying a respective event of the plurality of events;

an alarm unit comprising a set of computer-executable instructions stored on the one or more memories, which when executed by one or more processors, cause the luminaire to:

accessing the flash sequence library to determine a particular flash sequence that identifies the particular event; and

instruct one or more drivers to energize one or more illumination sources included in the luminaire in accordance with the particular sequence of flashes, thereby causing the luminaire to generate a visual sequence indicative of the occurrence of the particular event; and

a hazardous location enclosure surrounding the one or more memories, the one or more processors, the one or more drivers, and the one or more illumination sources.

20. The luminaire of claim 19, wherein the particular blink sequence is distinguished from other blink sequences defined in the library of blink sequences based on at least one of a frequency, duty cycle, or amplitude at which the one or more drivers energize the one or more illumination sources.

21. The luminaire of any of claims 19-20, wherein the one or more illumination sources is a plurality of illumination sources, and wherein the particular blink sequence is a coordinated blink sequence including (i) a first blink sequence generated by a first illumination source of the plurality of illumination sources and (ii) a second blink sequence at a second illumination source of the plurality of illumination sources, the first blink sequence and the second blink sequence being different blink sequences executed in coordination over time.

22. A luminaire according to any one of claims 19-21, wherein the alarm unit instructs the one or more drivers to one of:

continuously repeating the particular scintillation sequence; or alternatively

The particular blinking sequence is generated during a first portion of a periodic time interval and is not generated during a remaining portion of the periodic time interval.

23. The luminaire of any of claims 19-22, wherein the alarm unit instructs the one or more drivers to energize the one or more illumination sources according to the particular flashing sequence during commissioning of the luminaire and before the commissioning of the luminaire is complete.

24. A luminaire according to any one of claims 19-23, wherein said specific event comprises at least one of: failure, malfunction, error, or sub-optimal performance of a component or runtime operation of the luminaire; a status or result of a diagnostic operation performed at the luminaire; or the status or result of a maintenance operation performed at the luminaire.

25. A luminaire according to any of claims 19-23, wherein the luminaire is comprised in a wireless network, and the specific event is one of:

a loss of detection of the wireless network by the luminaire;

the luminaire is excluded from the wireless network; or

A loss of control signals received at the luminaire from a controller via the wireless network while maintaining a communication connection between the luminaire and the wireless network, wherein the one or more drivers power up the one or more lighting sources included in the luminaire in accordance with the control signals received from the controller.

26. The luminaire of any one of claims 19-23, wherein the particular event is detection of unexpected motion within the hazardous environment, an unexpected nature of the detected motion being determined by the alarm unit based on at least one of a source of the detected motion or an occurrence time of the detected motion.

27. The luminaire of any one of claims 19-26, wherein the alarm unit is coupled to a computing device via a wireless communication link, and the alarm unit additionally transmits a signal to the computing device via the wireless communication link indicating the occurrence of the particular event and an indication of an identity of a device or component disposed within the hazardous environment and associated with the particular event.